Despite the rapid development of telecommunication technologies, the basic shape and design of telephone devices has changed little in the last few decades. While additional features such as displays, special function buttons, and comparable additions have been incorporated into the base unit, the handset preserves its original outline, being placed over the base unit along one edge typically.
Hands free operation through speakerphone feature has been a mainstay of home and office telephones for a while. To support hands free speakerphone functionality in a compact telephone footprint, the speakerphone speaker is commonly placed under the body of the handset requiring a middle portion of the handset body to be narrow and curved significantly away from the speaker in the base unit of the telephone. This presents considerable restrictions on the industrial design choices. Handsets with rectangular, angular design languages force a wider base unit and placement of the hands free speaker to the side of the handset. Other variations on traditional handset designs often result in visual conflict with the industrial design language of the rest of the telephone.